Volleyball

Volleyball Set to Host Montana and Montana State

Oct 06, 2010

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern
Arizona volleyball plays Montana and Montana State this weekend at
the Rolle Activity Center in its first two-match homestand of the
conference season. The Lumberjacks face Montana on Thursday,
October 7 and Montana State on Saturday, October 9. Both
matches will start at 7 p.m. and will be televised live on FS
Arizona and Fox College Sports.

NAU (6-8, 2-2 BSC) traveled to the
Big Sky Conference's top team, Northern Colorado, last week in its
only match of the weekend. The women dropped a 3-0 decision
to the Bears by sets of 25-15, 25-21, and 25-21. With the
defeat, the Lumberjacks sit in fifth place in the conference
standings.

Montana (7-9, 3-2 BSC) is coming
off a 1-1 split last weekend with away matches at Idaho State and
Weber State. The Grizzlies lost to Idaho State, 3-1, and then
defeated Weber State 3-1 the following day.

Montana State (9-8, 2-3 BSC) is 3-1
in their last four contests coming into Saturday's match against
NAU. Montana State plays at Northern Colorado on Thursday
before arriving in Flagstaff. Last weekend, the Bobcats split
its road trip at Weber State and Idaho State. Montana State
defeated Weber State, 3-1, and then fell to Idaho State, 3-1 the
following night.

Lauren Campbell
led the Lumberjacks with nine kills and a .261 hitting percentage
against Northern Colorado on Saturday. Campbell earned a
team-high 23 attacks and also recorded one assist and one dig on
the night.

Last Home Game

Kelli Dallmann
helped keep Northern Arizona's home record clean and led the team
to its second conference win of the season on Saturday against the
Hornets (3-0). Dallmann produced the match's only
double-double with 33 assists and 11 digs. The sophomore setter
averaged 11 assists per set and 3.67 digs per set for the game.

Staying
Perfect

The Lumberjacks pushed their home
record to 4-0 this year keeping the unbeaten streak alive after
defeating Sacramento State, 3-0, on Saturday, September 25 in the
Rolle Activity Center. NAU is the only team in the Big Sky
Conference to still have an undefeated record at home.

Class in
Session

Freshman Niki Small,
sophomores Kelli Dallmann and Anna Gott lead their
respective classes in the Big Sky Conference's offensive
categories. Small leads all freshman with a .262 hitting
percentage, Dallmann leads all sophomores with 9.57 assists per set
and Gott leads all sophomores with 4.07 digs per set.

Double Doubles

Kelli Dallmann is one of ten
players in the Big Sky Conference this season to have five or more
double doubles. The sophomore setter picked up her fifth
double double on Saturday, September 25 against Sacramento State
with 33 assists and 11 digs.

Big Sky
Leaders

Five Lumberjacks rank among the top
statistical leaders in the Big Sky Conference. Sophomore
Kelli Dallmann is first in the conference with 9.57 assists per
set. Sophomore Anna Gott is fourth in the league with 4.24
digs per set and third in the Big Sky with 0.37 service aces per
set. Freshman Keely Stevenson
is sixth with 0.31 service aces per set and freshman Niki Small is
sixth in hitting percentage at .262. Junior Kobi
Christensen is ninth in kills per set with 2.98.

Milestone
Reached

Head Coach Craig Choate won his
300th career match against Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday,
September 4. Choate has coached at New Mexico State
(1990-93), San Jose State (1993-07), and is in his third year at
Northern Arizona. He has amassed a career record of
298-286.

Feasted at
Fiesta

Junior outside hitter Kobi
Christensen received the Fiesta Bowl Volleyball Tournament Most
Valuable Player after leading all players in hitting percentage and
kills in each of Northern Arizona's three matches. She
totaled 48 kills on 78 attacks over the weekend with only 11
errors. The native of Kelowna, B.C., Canada averaged a .474
hitting percentage with 4.80 kills per set with 1.20 digs per set
during the tournament.

Series History

The Lumberjacks are 22-29 all-time
against Montana in a series that dates back to 1980. NAU has
lost its last four matches to the Grizzlies. The women are
26-22 all-time against Montana State since their first meeting in
1987. NAU is currently riding a six-match win streak against
the Bobcats.

Small Only in
Name

In her first collegiate tournament,
freshman Niki Small earned All-Tournament team honors at the UniWyo
Wyoming Invite. Small started all four matches and played in
all 15 sets as NAU went 1-3 with a win over Murray State (3-1) and
losses to Central Arkansas (3-0), Southern Utah (3-2), and Wyoming
(3-0). Small posted a .363 hitting percentage, with 2.47
kills per set. The freshman from Ashland, Ore., also totaled
0.67 blocks per set. She led the team in hitting percentage
during the tournament.

Back to Full
Strength

Sophomore Lexi Sullivan
played her first match in 343 days after suffering a knee injury
last fall on September 17 at home against Idaho State.
Sullivan received a medical hardship in 2009 and returned against
Central Arkansas on August 27. She posted a team-high 10
kills and .192 hitting percentage. She led NAU in kills in
three of the Lumberjacks' four matches at the UniWyo Wyoming
Invite.

Media/Practice
Information

The Lumberjacks practice
Monday-Thursday from 2-4:30 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.
Media seeking admittance need to contact Joe Scacco by phone at
928-523-6330 or by email at Joe.Scacco@nau.edu.

History

What is the history of Northern
Arizona volleyball? We're glad you asked. Going back to the
old AIAW days, NAU has been a player in women's intercollegiate
athletics for 35 years. In its 23 years in the NCAA, NAU has
posted nine winning seasons and 15 with double digit wins.
The Lumberjacks have reached the postseason 14 of the past 19
years. In 1999, NAU went to the NCAA tournament suffering a
3-0 loss to No. 5 North Carolina.

DID YOU
KNOW…The Northern Arizona University athletics
department recorded its highest cumulative grade point average
since 1997, recording a 3.16 GPA among its more than 300
student-athletes at the completion 2009 fall semester.